Security Measures in Meeting Information Needs and Seeking Behaviour of Agricultural Science Students in Nigerian Universities

Abstract

Security measures play a significant role in the accessibility and use of agricultural information resources among undergraduate science students in Nigeria. This results in overcoming obstacles to valuable information required by agricultural students to cultivate their products that would replicate food substances in the Nigerian economy. Nonetheless, unauthorised individuals have pervaded access to information that is meant for agricultural science students due to a lack of security of such information. There are unlimited assets and products to which agricultural students have access; hence, this paper investigates security measures in meeting information needs and seeking behaviour of agricultural science students in Nigerian universities. The paper employed a qualitative research method based on the explanatory research method. In so doing, the use of a systematic literature review was adopted to examine the information needs and seeking behaviour of agricultural students in Nigeria and again to find out the security measures put in place to ensure valuable information and preventive approaches to unauthorised individuals are sustained. Using a purposive sampling technique, the authors collected articles published between 2015 and 2023 on databases of Emerald and ResearchGate for the review. Findings reveal that agricultural science students in Nigerian universities have a diverse range of preferred information sources. Findings further reveal that students engage in information-seeking behaviour for various purposes, such as course assignments, practical experiments, exam preparation, general reading, discussions, seminars, workshops, conferences, and research projects. Challenges in information-seeking behaviour include inadequate access to current information materials and uncooperative attitudes of librarians and lecturers. The study concludes that security measures are crucial in shaping how students access information. The study recommends that universities ensure a balance between print and electronic resources to cater to students’ varied preferences to accommodate comprehensive support for their research and studies in the university environment. This would enhance sustainable security measures and accessibility to varied information resources for the students.